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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: field · bark · craft · rash · capital · cell

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. rash — hasty
  3. capital — money
  4. craft — a skill
  5. cell — a phone
  6. bark — to shout
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. field — farmland
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. rash — a series
  12. capital — a city
  13. craft — boats
  14. cell — in biology
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. field — for sport
  18. cell — in a prison

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com